


Forget Me Not

by JustSomeoneUnordinary



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (a little bit), (sort of), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Crack and Angst, Humor, Identity Porn, Idiots in Love, Look I Can't Tell if My Humor Is Actual Humor or Crack so Both Tags It Is, M/M, Misunderstandings, More Like 'Crack and a little bit of Angst' but There Is No Tag for That, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29122311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustSomeoneUnordinary/pseuds/JustSomeoneUnordinary
Summary: Tony is pretty sure Bucky was about to ask him out. The signs were there. He checked. But instead, Bucky starts avoiding Tony, which might or might not be because of the slight amnesia incident.Tony is not one to talk about hisfeelingsof all things though—and neither is Bucky for that matter.So, they both sulk.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 22
Kudos: 127
Collections: Winteriron Winter Stockings 2020





	Forget Me Not

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Purple_ducky00](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_ducky00/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [Purple_ducky00](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_ducky00/pseuds/Purple_ducky00) in the [winteriron_winter_stockings_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/winteriron_winter_stockings_2020) collection. 



> Dear giftee, I tried to combine your prompts and put in as many likes and wishes as I could in this, so I hope you’ll like this! :)
> 
> And since all creators have been revealed, I now also uploaded my own version in German [here](https://www.fanfiktion.de/s/60235ed4000103bc138eac5a/1/Vergissmeinnicht).

This is what happens: on April 23rd, a Thursday like any other, the Avengers get alerted of a new wizard ( _“Sorcerer”_ ) attacking New York. Because _of course_ it is New York. Bucky secretly wishes for a little change—Hawaii for example would be nice. Or the Maldives. But then again, New Yorkers are already used to all the villains and know to evacuate themselves out of the danger zone, so there’s definitely an advantage in that.

Anyway: new wizard ( _“Sorcerer!”_ ), Strange and Wong are both away on a mission in another dimension, which the wizard (“I give up”) must’ve known, and the Avengers help the other newbie sorcerers to contain the villain du jour. A fight happens, things get blown up, buildings destroyed, Tony pays for it, yadda, yadda—the usual.

And then Bucky gets hit by a pink-purple-ish actually quite nice-looking beam and wakes up in the hospital. With amnesia.

It’s not that bad though; Bucky only loses 17 days of memory. Which is an oddly specific number, but oh well. Sure, it’s a bit of a nuisance and yes, he gets a tiny panic attack because this situation reminds him a little bit too much of the wiping HYDRA did to him and Bucky really didn’t imagine waking up with lost memories ever again, but it could be way worse so Bucky isn’t complaining. Much.

Nothing important could’ve happened in the past 17 days the Avengers couldn’t have informed him about anyway.

Right?

* * *

This is how Tony sees is: Bucky starts flirting with him intensively. He compliments Tony for basically anything, brings him freshly brewed coffee and self-baked cookies while Tony is sciencing (“That’s not a word, Tony” – “Sure is, I patented it”), winks and smiles, his touches always lingering just a tad bit longer, and even brings him flowers on one memorable occasion. Forget-me-nots. “Because they’re cute,” Bucky shrugs in explanation.

When he sneaks into the kitchen on a morning, because sometimes he likes to try out-spying the spies, he hears Bucky saying to Steve, “No Steve, you don’t understand; I want to _woo_ him.”

So yes, Bucky flirts.

And then he doesn’t.

The moment Bucky is released from the hospital after the hit in the latest battle he avoids Tony like the pest. Which is rather unexpected, so to speak, considering Tony was convinced Bucky would finally invite him on a date. The signs were there. He checked. And sure, Tony would’ve asked Bucky out himself after all that blatant flirting, if he hadn’t overheard that conversation about Bucky wanting to _woo_ Tony. (And who is Tony to say no to some wooing? He has never been wooed before, only ever been the wooer himself.) Which is why he decided to wait it out.

And now Bucky doesn’t talk to him anymore. Flees when they’re in the same room. Barely manages a smile, and only a forced one at that. Tony doesn’t think too much about it at the beginning. Or tries not to at least. Considering Bucky’s history with HYDRA he must be quite distraught and probably needs some space after the sudden loss of a few days of memory.

But then time passes. And the more time passes, the more Tony has to ask himself if he did something wrong. He knows that Bucky must’ve forgotten most of the days he suddenly started to flirt with Tony in first place, but if his feelings were true to begin with, then Bucky certainly wouldn’t just completely ignore him now. So, all of that flirting must’ve been nothing more than a charade.

… Right?

* * *

This is what Bucky forgot: on April 6th he sneaks through the tower, taking paths not even J.A.R.V.I.S. can locate him at—or not immediately at least. It’s one of his favorite leisure activities; he likes the challenge, loves the thrill of outsmarting the most advanced AI in the world.

Plus, he discovers many secrets this way. For example, that Natasha hides her stash of candies under her bed which in retrospect isn’t even that stupid because that’s the least of all places you would expect a highly ranked spy to hide something.

Or that Sam loves to sing loudly along some soul songs into his hairbrush (Bucky still hasn’t figured out _why_ he has a hairbrush), when he thinks he’s alone, wearing nothing but red panties, revealing a nice butt Bucky would have taken his time to admire if he wasn’t already head over heels for Tony.

This is also how he finds out that Thor apparently masturbates while calling out to Heimdall, the all-seeing Gatekeeper, to watch him. Which is something he rather would not have found out. The knowing smirk Thor gives him on the next day definitely doesn’t make the situation better.

What he discovers on this particular day though, changes everything. He hears Iron Man talking to J.A.R.V.I.S. near Tony’s workshop—bickering more like it, reminding him too much of Tony that way which leaves the bitter taste of jealousy in his mouth—and before Bucky even has the chance to turn away to protect Iron Man’s secret identity, the latter has already taken off his helmet.

Thus, revealing none other than Tony Stark himself.

Bucky stops breathing on the spot. He doesn’t know how long he stares into nothing as if paralyzed, hidden in the shadows, but when he finally does take his first breath, there is only one thought going through his head: Tony and Iron Man are not dating— _they are the same person_. Which means his crush on Tony might not be as hopeless as he thought, after all.

A smile spreads on his face as he starts already planning in his head. His plan of wooing Tony Stark. A plan, that seems to be working for the next few days wonderfully.

Up until he gets amnesia.

* * *

This is how it goes now: Tony hides.

He’s aware he’s 27 years old (“46,” Pepper corrects) and therefore an adult (“Debatable”) and should confront his feelings straight-on (“God, I wish”). But feelings and Tony never have had a good history together, so hiding it is. Tony is quite good at that, mostly thanks to J.A.R.V.I.S. but some of it is his own skillset too.

He sets his shop in blackout-mode and starts working. In the first few days that works out quite well as a distraction. But then he remembers what it was like to have Bucky here with him and feels his presence missing even the more. The way Bucky would ask about his projects and listen with interest at his explanations. How he would crack dorky jokes that make Tony roll his eyes and laugh at the same time. Or how he’d play with Tony’s bots and would try to have actual full-blown conversations with them even if he didn’t really understand their answers. And how those bright blue eyes, that remind him of forget-me-nots now, would sparkle with happiness.

Even though this hasn’t been even nearly enough of a constant for Tony to get so much used to Bucky’s presence to miss him this fiercely now. Not nearly enough time for the painful pounding in his chest making him feel like he’s incessantly short of breath.

_And yet._

Which is why on the fifth day he takes a bottle of Țuică from his stash with him. Because as this nice old Romanian lady once explained to him in 1994 when she disinfected his wounds with the alcohol after he was robbed in a dark alley for running through the streets with a broken heart after he found out that his former girlfriend had cheated on him: _“Țuică heals_ all _wounds.”_ And then promptly gave him the rest of the bottle to drink up. 

And right now, he has again a broken heart to heal.

Tony deliberately ignores the piercing look Rhodey throws at him upon seeing the bottle in his hands.

* * *

This is what Bucky does meanwhile: he sulks.

He sulks, fully aware that he has no right to be sulking. After all, it’s he who avoids Tony and not the other way around. But here’s the thing: he has a calendar. As much as Bucky loves the future, the technology, the advancements—when it comes to remembering dates, he prefers to have something solid.

So, he has a calendar, and on that calendar he writes everything important down. At first, he was afraid to look at it and find out what he might have forgotten in these 17 days, but when he finally encourages himself, everything seems normal at first glance. Until he notices the note for the 26th, stating “ask Tony out” with a little heart drawn next to it.

Which makes absolutely no sense, because Bucky knows for a fact that Tony and Iron Man are already dating. He saw them. Saw Tony purr at Iron Man while he was still in the armor, caressing the shoulder parts and telling him he was going to give him a _sexy_ upgrade. Saw the way Tony’s eyes lit up with affection for Iron Man and how he’d wink at him. Saw, what he should’ve seen way sooner.

That was the same day Bucky’s crush on Tony was… well, crushed. Because how could he ever compete with someone like Iron Man? He can’t even be angry at their team member with the secret identity who is too much of a good guy—everyone likes him. _Bucky_ likes him. Hell, sometimes Iron Man reminds him so much of Tony that he has difficulties distinguishing them, which is not something he wants to examinate any further if he’s being honest.

Nonetheless, for some reason past-Bucky wrote that note down. Bucky _never_ writes anything mindlessly onto his calendar. Ergo, past-him new something present-him doesn’t. And that—that feels a little bit too much like HYDRA again. Knowing something is missing, but not knowing what, trying to access memories that are not there anymore. Nothing but a gaping hole in his mind and—

—and he has another panic attack. A tiny one. Bucky gets it under control by deciding to stop thinking about that date and instead focus on his hopeless pining for Tony.

Which is how he ends up avoiding Tony altogether, avoiding his calendar while he’s at it too, mostly staying to himself and sulking all on his own for days. Because that’s a lot easier to handle than panic attacks.

Steve tries to get through him but Bucky refuses to open the door. Sam is less polite and flies straight-up through his window without any warning. Bucky simply doesn’t listen to anything Sam has to say either until he finally leaves again and Bucky is left alone with his sulking and the instant Ramen.

It works well that way. Everything is perfectly fine, nothing to worry. _Just_ _peachy-keen_.

* * *

This is how things finally get into motion: “You and Bucky need to talk,” Rhodey and Sam team up against Tony, barricading the way to his lab. Both scowling and their arms crossed over their chest, stating clearly that they’re not planning to go anywhere. Tony is surprised Steve isn’t here with them too since this seems kind of like his shtick, but then he remembers that he has a special code that forbids Steve to come anywhere near his workshop when he’s wearing the American Scowl of Disapproval.

He obviously forgot about Rhodey’s just as impressive scowl when he created that code two years ago. And Sam’s apparently too, though to be fair; Tony didn’t know Sam could pull it off just as good.

A second passes where he thinks about running, but they’re three against one—because J.A.R.V.I.S. is most definitely not on his side—so he drops the idea. Instead, he sighs, takes an obnoxious loud sip of his still too hot coffee that almost burns not only his mouth but his esophagus too, and says, “We just did that yesterday. Had a nice little chat about the unusual warm weather here.”

What actually had happened was that Tony had found Bucky at Bruce’ terrasse garden who had stared at him like a deer in headlights. To defuse the situation Tony had said something along the lines of “nice weather today, isn’t it?” and Bucky had nodded in answer before he practically fled. So, not completely a lie.

“Uh-huh. Talking as in talking about your feelings, Tones.”

As if Tony hadn’t figured that out already. Rude. “Well, right now I feel attacked in my own home and I’m pretty sure that’s against your lease so, move. I need to science.”

Neither Rhodey nor Sam move. Of course they don’t. Tony is by no means surprised, but very much irritated by their stubbornness. Even more so when he realizes that by having Sam here, no one is cornering Bucky the same way, meaning only _he_ is being scolded. Which is plain unfair.

Before Tony can voice that though, Rhodey interrupts him with a sigh and a concerned, “I can’t watch you drink that stuff anymore, Tones.”

Ouch, right into the guilt-trip station. Deflection it is then. “Don’t be rude, that’s the national drink of the Romanians. Show some respect.”

“It’s literally made illegally.”

“The government lets them!”

“Look man,” Sam chimes in, “I already tried to talk to Bucky and that idiot is a lost case. Only feeds on instant Ramen, refuses to leave the Tower, doesn’t listen to anyone. I just want my peace and your pining for each other interrupts that. So I really don’t care _how_ , but get your shit finally together.”

Tony has only so much determination to fight and having both, Rhodey _and_ Sam’s eyes downright drill into him, quickly drains him from all the energy he’d need for that. “Fine!” he exclaims and turns, “I will talk to him!”

With that he storms off, expressing his displeasure by stomping loudly, so that they can hear him until he’s in the elevator. Half of his coffee spills at that and Tony thinks that now his day can’t get any worse anyway.

* * *

This is how it resolves: Tony stalks into Bucky’s floor without further ado, makes himself comfortable on the couch and says, “We need to talk.”

A few seconds pass during which Bucky looks confused back and forth between Tony and the door, which he was sure he had locked before, and then asks, “You breaking up with me?” Because, well, how else is he supposed to react?

That at least makes Tony snort and Bucky’s chest immediately fills with pride because _he_ did that! He made Tony laugh! Sort of laugh at least. He tries very hard to not let that dopey grin, that wants to spread on his face, show.

But then Tony’s expression turns serious and without taking his eyes off Bucky, he says, “You tell me.”

And that makes even less sense. He waits for Tony to elaborate but when nothing more comes, he decides to be upfront with him. “Tony, I have honestly no idea what you’re talking about.” (Apart from Bucky avoiding him lately but he isn’t going to admit that out loud.)

Tony puffs. “You,” he all but shouts, hands thrown in exasperation in the air, “barricading yourself here, not talking to anyone, downright fleeing from me, when—” and if Bucky wouldn’t know Tony so well by now, he’d miss the signs of nervousness. But he recognizes the twitch in Tony’s fingers that comes from the urge to hide his expression behind a pair of flashy sunglasses, and the slight shift in his eyes, which are no longer looking directly at Bucky but a few inches from him “—when I thought we had something going there. With the flirting and all the, you know… _wooing_ ,” Tony finishes in almost a whisper.

“Flirting?” Bucky can’t help but ask in confusion. He instantly realizes this to be a mistake when Tony’s entire face shuts down and instead changes to his fake public persona.

Bucky rushes to fix the situation. “Tony, I would never flirt with you, knowing that you and Iron Man are dating!”

Turns out this was not the right thing to say _either_ , because Tony’s expression shifts _again_ , but this time to one Bucky never would’ve imagined to have aimed at him. It’s the same one he does whenever Justin Hammer speaks to him. The ‘you-just-said-something-so-immensily-stupid-I-can’t-believe-I-had-to-hear-this-my-own-two-ears’-expression.

Bucky gulps audibly.

“Excuse me, I do _what_ now?”

“Uhm,” suddenly Bucky doesn’t feel as sure as just a few seconds ago, “dating Iron Man?”

Tony blinks once, twice, then delivers in the flattest tone Bucky’s ever heard, “How can I date Iron Man when I _am_ Iron Man?”

That single sentence is enough to trigger Bucky’s lost memories back out from nowhere. He feels like someone threw a bucket of ice-cold water over his head and moments pass where he just stands there in utter shock, trying to process this sudden stream of information that comes back instantly and all at once. All those 17 lost days back like they were never gone.

“Oh,” he finally mutters and looks at Tony whose big brown-golden eyes are fixated on him and shimmer in worry, “I remember now.”

“What?”

So Bucky tells Tony everything. Tells him how he found out about Tony’s secret and how he took this as his chance to woo him. How he forgot all this again and why he avoided Tony afterwards.

The reaction he receives in return is not one he would’ve expected.

“For a highly ranked assassin you are unbelievingly dense,” Tony tells him dryly. But there’s a silent smile tugging at the corner of his lips, just waiting to take over his face. “Even Steve figured it out after three weeks and he’s the one who took the longest. You, on the other hand, have been here for almost a year. I can’t believe I have to apologize to Steve now for calling him Captain Oblivious.”

Yeah, _definitely_ not the reaction he would have expected. Bucky feels his cheeks redden, but before he can turn away in shame, Tony gently cups his face, forcing Bucky to look him in the eye.

“You are an idiot and we will have to talk about this in the near future. But we both had one hell of a week behind us and I would really, really like to finally kiss your stupid face now,” Tony tells him all earnestly.

Bucky should probably feel insulted, but all he feels is the excited beating of his heart, the warmth Tony is radiating and nothing but sheer happiness. Without a second thought, Bucky puts his hands on Tony’s hips and pulls him closer until their lips finally meet.

He would love to compare this moment with fireworks, as it’s often done in romances, but they both stink of sweat and bad breath, their hands wandering everywhere, now that they finally can do that, and both too busy with grinning madly for a proper kiss—and it’s perfect just the way it is.

“We good?” Tony asks when they eventually part.

“Better than good. I’d say phenomenal even, doll.”

Tony rolls his eyes and playfully slaps him on the shoulder. “Don’t act all suave now, it’s too late for that. I’ve already figured that you’re a giant dork.”

Bucky doesn’t dignify that with an answer and just keeps grinning, enjoying the feeling of having Tony in his arms.

“Well, now that we’re good,” Tony continues, “I want to make clear that for your own sake you better forget-me-not again.”

“Did you just make a cheesy pun?” Bucky wrinkles his nose and gasps in fake shock. 

“Who, me? I’d never.”

“You _so_ did. And for the record, I have never forgotten you. I only forgot that you and Iron Man are the same person.”

“Yes, exactly. I _am_ Iron Man. So, by extension you also forgot _me_. You wound me here, Buckster. Also, did you know that I almost revealed my identity after I became Iron Man? I stared at those annoying blue cards Agent gave me and played for a second with the thought to just put them away, look the audience straight in the eyes and say “I am Iron Man”. Can you imagine what kind of—”

Bucky only shakes his head in amusement and closes his eyes, letting Tony’s babble wash over him, glad having his memories back _and_ Tony at his side. Next time he will just do what is written on his calendar. And maybe try not to get hit by a wizard’s spell again, no matter how pretty it looks like. (He also definitely needs to ask Tony why he talks to his armor like to a lover but that’s a conversation for another time.)

Right now he will simply enjoy the moment. Maybe he never got to properly woo Tony how he wanted to, but he can still make up for that. After all, things have turned out perfect as they are on their own too.

**Author's Note:**

> You can reblog this on Tumblr [here](https://justsomeoneunordinary.tumblr.com/post/642473355583340544/forget-me-not-justsomeoneunordinary-marvel).


End file.
